Starrunner
by Eternal Odyssey
Summary: Another KOTOR II: TSL novelisation, but with the addition of a new character, and possible plot twists. Enjoy! First fanfic, so no flames please. Rated T just in case. LSF Exile.
1. Awakening

Well, my first chapter of my first story XD. My take on KOTOR II: TSL. Read and Review, but flames will be ignored/used to heat my house. Enjoy!

Oh, yeah, Star Wars belongs to George Lucas, I own nothing but Anaya Starrunner Girin Myralar.

_

* * *

_

A small freighter was adrift in space. It was heavily damaged, with holes in the hulls and carbon scoring the whole thing over. On board were several corpses, a comatose Jedi, and a small utility droid designated T3-M4. The T3 unit reactivated itself, and noticed it had sustained considerable damage. Nevertheless, it went about the ship, repairing it's broken components, patching the hull and generally making it operational. It retrieved mines off the hull, and flew it to a mining facility in the nearby Peragus facility, miraculously avoiding the asteroids, loaded with their highly explosive Peragian fuel. It was pulled into a hangar, and…

…Anaya Starrunner awakened on the floor of a room filled with kolto tanks. She felt strange effects, as if drugged. She shook off the haze, and inspected herself. Her brown hair hung raggedly off her head, and she was dressed in the short-sleeved and -legged jumpsuit she wore for undergarments. She looked around, seeing the display screen on the ground showing the status of the tanks and their occupants. There were panels on the wall that masked the switches and wires in the wall, and a large door in front of her. She walked toward the door after she had regained full consciousness,, and opened it easily. Down the wall was a door that was smoking and shaking, as if trying to open but being unable to. _No good,_ she thought to herself. She tried the door to her left, but it was locked from a remote source. Walking further down the hall found another door that opened manually and without lock picking, and after it had allowed her inside she saw it was an administration room of sorts for the med bay. She walked over to the console that was near the transparasteel window and began looking through it's files. She went through the logs and found that a small freighter had found it's way to the facility without drift charts, and that there was one survivor (she assumed it was herself), and was saddened to find that no one else had survived. The recordings informed her that her Jedi status had been found out, and that there had been several accidents with fuel detonations, involving malfunctioning droids. Abandoning the records, she checked for patient lifesigns, discovering that she was the sole survivor of the entire med bay. Checking the treatment, she was horrified to see that all tanks had received a lethal dose of sedatives. She concluded that her Jedi training allowed her to resist the killing medicine, and moved on. Accessing the "Functions" screen, she saw that the morgue could be unlocked, but to be safe she checked the camera, revealing the obvious fact that there were no living amongst the dead. She noticed an option to access storage, and unlocked the closet. Looking though the containers, she salvaged some medical chemicals and a field medical kit, or medpac. She then returned to the console and unlocked the morgue, and upon entering, began the gruesome task of searching the dead. She began with a miner at the back of the room, and retrieved a plasma torch when she was shocked into stillness and silence by an old woman inquiring of her, "Have you found what you are looking for amongst the dead?" After looking back and forth between the woman and the bed where she had been lying, Anaya sputtered out the question, "Who are you?"

The old woman replied, "I am Kreia, and I am your rescuer as you are mine. Do you recall what has happened?"

Mystified, Anaya replied, "Last I recall, I was aboard the Republic warship _Harbinger_…what happened to it?"

Without a trace of the surprise Anaya felt, Kreia said, "It was fell victim to an attack, of which -you- were the sole survivor. Surely it does no surprise you that you, no doubt a result of your Jedi training."

Anaya shook her head, the shock fading, and replied, "I am no longer a member of the Jedi Order."

Kreia repeated Anaya's gesture, saying, "Your stance, your walk, your bearing tell me you -are- a Jedi. It is heavy, as if your are weighed down by something you cannot see."

Anaya said with some difficulty, "The Order and I have a somewhat…difficult history."

Kreia said knowingly, "Indeed. Keep your past, let us focus on the present."

Anaya was wholly lost now, and said resignedly "Very well, what is going on? How did we get here?"

"I do not know. I was removed from the events of the world in my slumber. But I know that the ship we arrived in is still in this place. We must retrieve it and leave."

"Why must we leave? Is there some danger?"

Kreia replied to this impatiently, "We were attacked once, and they will not stop hunting us so easily. Without knowledge, transport and weapons we shall be easy prey indeed."

Anaya felt the resolve she had known years ago- in a time she had tried to bury. "I shall search for our ship- and weapons."

Kreia replied dryly, "You may also wish to seek clothing, if only to make a proper first impression."

Anaya remembered her current attire and colored slightly in the cheeks. "Right, well, off I go. I will return soon to check on you." And with that, plasma torch in hand, Anaya set off to explore this strange place.

* * *

Anaya's first obstacle was the broken door. After a minute of thinking, she decided to simply cut it open with the torch. When she went into the next room, she found a couple of corpses clutching vibroblades next to a destroyed mining droid. She picked up the vibroblades, pleased that she could use her preferred style of dual-wielding, and walked into the next room. Upon opening the door, she was fired upon by two mining droids. Being mining droids and nod warbots, the missed every shot and she easily cut them down. While the corpse's clothes were destroyed, their belts were not, and she put one on, holstering a mining pistol she found on a corpse in the next room. She continued through the rooms, but felt strange when she cut down a group of droids. Then a voice invaded her mind, much like when she floated in the tank.

__

*Be careful, there is much energy in the room beyond, but not from the living.*

Baffled, Anaya spoke through the link with her thoughts, _*Kreia, is that you?*_Kreia ignored the question. _*The droids' electricity gives off energy. You can use that to sense them, though they are not among the living.*_

Anaya took that as a warning, hefted her blades, and charged into the room, cutting down all of the droids easily, with only a grazing shot to her left arm, causing a mild burn.

Rather than answering, Kreia said, *_What is it you feel?*_*_I feel…odd. Like was deaf, but can see again…*_Pleased, Kreia replied _*It is the Force you feel. It has returned to you, after all these years…*_This time, Kreia remained silent, and Anaya continued into the a room that looked like the security office. She was about to log onto the console, when there was some banging on the locker doors…from inside. She opened the door…and I tumbled out. Now, let me tell you who I am. I'm a fifteen-year-old male human with short brown hair, brown eyes, and slightly tanned white skin. At the moment there, I was wearing my favorite tan pants, boots an inch higher than my ankle, and grey tunic over a tan shirt. I dusted myself off and, in answer to her shocked look, said, "Oh, hi, I'm Girin Myralar, at your service." I gave a slight bow.

*It has been so long…I had forgotten.*

She sputtered for a second, and said, "Erm, Anaya Starrunner. How did you…" she drifted off.

I grinned, "Get in the security locker? Easy. When the droid started going berserk, I hid in there. The security chief fought them off for a while, but…" It was my turn to drift off, with a sad look. I brightened up quickly. "But, hey, at least the Jedi is alive!"

She gave me that surprised look again. "Why does everyone think I'm a Jedi?"

I gave her a look. "Well, are you?"

"Well, I used to be. But I was exiled."

__

"Really?

Well, you caused quite the uproar. Coorta and his gang got all riled up, and wanted to sell you to the Exchange. Security and a bunch of the miners didn't like that. Three days ago, things started going bad. Accidents, injuries…deaths. Yesterday the droids started taking over. That's when I hid in the locker."

"Two days?"

I shrugged. "About one, actually. They didn't get through security and the miners until about 8 PM, and it's about…" I checked my chronometer, "10 AM. "

"How old are you, exactly?"

I shrugged. "You mean, what's a teenager doing in a mining facility, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, this fifteen-year-old stowed away on a freighter two months ago to escape trouble on the Station, and they had to keep me here until the next freighter came in. At least they didn't make me mine."

Anaya didn't look reassured. "I hate to ask a child this…but can you fight?"

I glared for a second. "I may be young, but I'm no child. And I can shoot a blaster just fine. I qualified for the TSF once…but they got a hold of my birth records."

She appeared about to comment, but shut her mouth, and handed me the plasma torch, a mining laser, and a stealth field generator belt with a holster off the security chief. "Here, but try and let me fight." I nodded, and we set off.


	2. The Jedi, the Fool, and the Kid

Well, not gonna be here next week. So, posted this for any of you who read my story. I do not own Star Wars (except in my wildest fantasies), but I DO own Anaya and Girin. Enjoy!

Remember to Read and Review!

* * *

Okay, I shouldn't say we set off. First, she took twenty blasted minutes looking through security tapes, and another ten explaining what she did getting here, thus how I know what happened since she woke up. I think she meant it as a warning, but it was still annoying. When we finally got out the door, we were jumped by four droids. She cut down two, and I shot one between the photoreceptors. She gave me an odd look, but we kept going, repeating the pattern until, three rooms later, we exited and got to the main administration…chamber. It was huge, with a tree in front off us on the left, and to the right, a massive complex with a trench in front of a comm blister. She another room, but before she tried to open it, she saw the shimmer of a force field. "We had better get this open. Must be important, if it's shielded."

I nodded, and said, "Well, that comm blister should hold the controls. Looks like the mainframe for the facility."

She nodded, and we cut our way to the blister. She looked dazedly at the blinking lights, and I said helpfully, "I'll handle the console. You clear the level."

"You sure?"

"Positive. This is nothing compared to the TSF mainframe."

She didn't look reassured, but nodded gratefully and ran into the ditch, and I heard the sound of rabidly vibrating, cortosis-weave blades hacking through durasteel. I listened for a few seconds, then turned to the console. Everything was heavily encrypted, and although it would likely be easy to hack, I had no spikes. But one wasn't encrypted…the switch to the field on the room door. I typed in the command to deactivate the field, and whipped around to see Anaya standing behind me saying, "How'd you do?"

I shook off the surprise and said, "Not bad. Everything but one is encrypted, and I don't have any spikes."

"Spikes?"

I hung my head for a second in exasperation. "Computer spikes. You use them for hacking."

"Oh. Well, what wasn't locked down? I grinned. "The shielded room you wanted to search."

She nodded. "Excellent, let's go."

We headed to the room, and opened the door. The moment Anaya stepped in, swords ready, an admiring and rather pervy-sounding voice said from a force cage, "_Nice _outfit," but he quickly turned sarcastic, "What, you miners change regulation uniform while I've been rotting here?"

Anaya glared, and tersely told him, "Eyes up, and tell me who you are, and why you're locked up."

The man, without skipping a beat, replied, "Atton…Atton Rand," and then, with the same sarcasm he used before, "Excuse me if I don't shake hands. The field only causes mild electrical burns."

I rolled my eyes, and Anaya said, "I don't have time for this…explain what happened here, now."

"You mean, before or after that Jedi showed up? Either way, it's a short story. You see, this Jedi gets here, and you know what that means: The Republic will be crawling up your ion engine in no time. But some of the miners get it into their ferrocrete skulls that they would sell the Jedi to the Exchange for the bounty, then there were explosions, screaming, and my day got a lot better when you walked in here in your underwear."

Anaya colored at that, but demanded, "Why did the Exchange put a bounty on Jedi? "

Atton shook his head, "No idea. Maybe they have something against them. Not many left…bounty's probably pretty high…"

Anaya looked shocked, "Not many left? What happened to them?"

"The ones not killed in the Jedi Civil War switched off the lightsabers years ago. I've heard there not even a Jedi Council any more."

She eyed Atton, "I heard stories about the Sith, not Jedi."

"Yeah, Revan, Malak and the Jedi that followed them in the Mandalorian Wars. Where've you been?"

"I've been…away, since the Mandalorian Wars."

"Well, I wasn't there, but Revan and Malak turned on each other, after the Jedi of course. What else do Sith do?"

"I was led to believe Revan saved both the Jedi and the Republic."

"I guess. There's rumors all over the galaxy about it. What I heard was Revan went back to pay Malak back, for trying to kill her in the first place. You know women."

Anaya gave Atton an annoyed look, "How long have you been in that cage? Revan was a man."

"Eh, maybe you're right. Maybe I just hoped he were a woman."

I stepped in about there, "Uh, guys? Enough history. We have to get out of here."

Atton gave me a look, "Who's the kid?"

I replied with a glare, "Girin Myralar. And I'm fifteen."

"Fifteen? Old enough to fly a hover-crib!"

I opened my mouth to make a retort, but Anaya grabbing my shoulder told me to be quiet. Atton then went on, "Look, lady, not like your half-naked interrogation isn't a personal fantasy of mine…wait! You're that Jedi! Where is everyone?"

She then resumed conversation, "I don't know. The facility's deserted."

"They can't all be gone…but if they are…I can help you. I can. Gotten out of countless fixes."

She gave him a look, but something made her soften up. "Tell me your plan, and we can go from there."

He nodded, "This isn't a military installation, so we have a chance. I'll reroute the systems, grab us a ship, and fly us out of here."

Anaya shrugged. "Out you go," and switched off the cage.

"Great. Let's get to the command console and-"

I cut him off, "It's all encrypted. I tried."

Atton seemed to smother a laugh. "Let me try, just in case."

I glared at him, and we both turned to Anaya, who said simply, "Let's go."

We got to the console, and Atton got to work, then stood up and said, "Pure pazaak, Console's ours. Now to download the asteroid drift charts and-hey!"

Anaya groaned. "More bad news. What is it?"

Atton said, "The system got cut off from the main hub. Can't even reroute it, it was cut so clean."

Anaya surprised us both by saying matter-of-factly, "That wouldn't be standard procedure in an emergency lockdown."

Atton shook his head and said, "No. Someone tried to lock down the level, and trap us here."

Anaya got a annoyed look, and said irritably, "There must be a way to end the lockdown from here."

"Doubt it. All we have is comm, for all the good yelling into space will do."

Anaya shook her head. "I'm going to contact someone on the comm."

Atton snorted and said, "Be my guest, nothing else to do. Comm's yours."

Anaya stepped forward to the console, and accessed the function she seemed to understand: comm. She contacted the dorms, but no one answered. Then she tried the hangar, it was answered, and she said, "Can you read me?"

A utility droid started beeping, and Anaya commanded, "Do a diagnostic, and follow my instructions."

The droid beeped again, and Anaya continued, "I'm trapped on the admin level. Try to unlock the turbolifts."

At another beep, which I had no idea how she kept understanding, she continued, "Try to find an emergency hatch."

More beeping, and Anaya said, "I'd rather risk it than be trapped up here."

Then, we waited.

* * *

Three hours later, Atton was still making awkward attempts at small talk/blatant flirting, "So, uh, how long have you been a Jedi? Must be tough, you know, no family, no husband…"

Anaya replied quickly and easily, but with a humorous gleam in her eye, "No tougher than enduring your false sympathy while you're staring at my chest."

Atton's eyes widened, and he said, "Hey, I wasn't trying-"

He was cut off be bleeping noises from the console. He said, "Looks like the little trash compactor came through."

Anaya nodded. "Seems like it. But I don't think we're out of this yet…"

Atton grinned and shook his head, "If he got the lifts working, we have a clear run to the hangar."

Anaya shook her head, "The turbolifts were manually locked, so I had him open the emergency hatch."

"Wait, wait-you don't mean the hatch to the mining tunnels, do you? The explosion I heard was from those tunnels. There's nothing but superheated rock and collapsed blast tunnels. You'd have to be an idiot to go down there."

Anaya snorted. "A Jedi's life is sacrifice-especially when she's alone in a deserted mining facility with no one but a teenager and a coward."

I turned around in my chair and made a cry of indignation. "I'll go! I could take those droids!"

Anaya looked at me, and sighed. "I can't let you go down there. Too dangerous." She got a mischievous gleam in her eye, "Besides, we've seen from Atton's computer work how steady his hand is. I need you to protect him."

That did it for me. I snickered, and agreed to stay, all during Atton's cry of, "HEY!"

Atton shook his head. "Anyway, I'll monitor you from up here, give you some pointers. All that's likely to be down there is mining droids, so don't play hero to hard. Here's a comlink, so I can contact you." He handed both of us a comlink. He quickly revised his statement just as Anaya was turning to go, "Erm, not that I care what happens to you, or, anything…I just don't want to be fighting through mining droids and whoever sabotaged the facility with just some kid."

I glared at him, but Anaya said, "Your concern is noted. I'll head off." With that, Anaya set off for the tunnels."

**Five minutes later…**

"Can you read me?" Atton asked into the comlink.

"Barely-there's a lot of static," Anaya replied.

"Probably because of the interference from the explosions. But from what I've picked up, there's a passage to the fuel depot down there…if the caves haven't collapsed. There's not many sensors left down there, but there _seems_ to be a lot of mining droids."

"I'll be careful. Alert me if there's anything else."

"Right. Oh, and there should be some emergency supplies up ahead. Be on the lookout."

"Got it."

**Two minutes after that…**

"Find the supplies?"

"Yeah, and some clothes."

"Dammit!"

"What?"

"Um, I mean, good, good! No use being half naked…it's distracting…I-I mean, for the droids."

"Erm, right."

I stepped in, "Stay on topic in this channel, will you?"

Atton regained sanity, and said, "Anyway, there should be a safety harness and a sensor in there. They should help you detect and disable the mines down there, and cushion the effects if you set one off."

Anaya said, "There's some kind of energy shield in here, too.'

"Yeah, those are imported from Telos. They're like military-grade shields, but they protect against heat and energy, rather than electricity and energy. Use it if you have to get through superheated rock or a legion of droids."

"Right, Anaya out."

Before Anaya signed off, Atton said, "Wait, one more thing."

I imitated a confession of love under my breath just loud enough to be heard over comm, and Anaya snickered. Atton continued anyway, "I narrowed down the ID signals. It looks like I'm right, and there's an army of mining droids down there with you."

"Beginning to feel safer up there?"

"No, was just about to send the kid down."

I said, "Worried that you'll break a nail?"

Anaya snickered, but Atton ignored me. Anaya thanked Atton, who continued, "Oh, and there should be a central controller down there. Should be able to shut down the droids on this level from it. "

"Got it. Anaya out."

**Seven minutes later…**

"Hey, watch out. Those explosions superheated the rocks up ahead," Atton warned.

Anaya replied dryly, "Which explains the glowing rocks."

"..Right. I'll keep you posted."

"Got it. Anaya out."

**Ten minutes later…**

"There's the main ventilation shaft up ahead. Keep an eye out for the central controller," Atton said.

"You mean the big computer in the middle of the giant hole?"

"Umm…yeah."

"Alright, here I go."

"Oh, and there's a lot of mining droids down there."

"Gee, I didn't notice. Anaya out."

**2 minutes later…**

"Um, how do I work this?" Anaya asked sheepishly."

I walked her through the steps to get to the main controls.

"So, what do I do to select something?"

"Just double-click."

"Got it. Anaya out."

**Forty seconds later…**

Atton began ranting, "What have you done! You shut down the containment fields! You have to get out of there before they start venting fuel through those tunnels!"

"I guess I'll hurry."

**Eighteen seconds later…**

Atton sighed, "She left the tunnels. She's on her own until she reaches us…"


	3. Lord of Pain

Third chapter is up. Come guys, not one review thus far =P. Even if you hate it, tell me how I can improve! I don't own Star Wars, KotOR or any characters other than Anaya and Girin.

* * *

Three hours later, Atton was singing, "I see you through the window, your breath on the breeze…"

Anaya smothered a laugh, "Um, Atton?"

Atton sat bolt upright in his chair. "Um, hi, Anaya. Lost your signal when you left the tunnels…but this can't be right. It's showing you on the asteroid's surface."

I said, "He's been singing that for the last three hours. Since you disappeared off-"

Atton cut in, "Aaanyway, you have to get out of there. Now."

Anaya said sarcastically, "No, I _really _enjoy this walking bubble."

Atton said quickly, "No, you don't understand-the explosions caused by you shutting off the containment fields caused the ventilation systems to go active-venting Peragian fuel right in your way."

Anaya sighed, "Another day in the office. Can't you shut the blasted things down?"

"No, I'm locked out. It's rerouted on purpose, and only in the past few minutes, almost as if-I don't believe this. There's a ship coming to dock. I have a _bad_ feeling about this."

Anaya looked out into space, and her eyes widened as a huge ship came in to dock-a huge _Republic warship. _The fuel line from the station connected to the warship. I saw Anaya shake off her surprise so violently, it was visible through the suit, and she continued on.

* * *

Atton and I stood still at the comm blister. He was whistling idly, while I searched through files, trying in vain to end the lockdown. Suddenly, it ended itself. I stood up, and took a walk around the blister for the next five minutes, when, after I got back to the console, Anaya and a brown-robed woman ran up to us, out of breath. Anaya told me she had met an old Jedi, but seriously, this one was _ancient_. Atton started sputtering, "What in space is going on here? Another Jedi? What did you start breeding when I wasn't looking?"

Anaya shook her head and said between breaths, "No time, Atton, "she tossed him a mining laser, "Take this and follow me."

Atton gave her a look, and said, "Uh, okay. I guess you two aren't big friends of whoever's on that warship."

Kreia said irritably, "I hope your talent for understatement is outmatched by your skill with a blaster, or our time together will be short indeed."

Atton shot back, "I'm also good at running and drinking, your Majesty. And even if you two _aren't_ such big patriots, that warship's the only way outta here!" Anaya shook her head, but we ran down the ramp, and Atton said, "At least there's a clear path to the shi-"

A familiar electronic voice said, "Threat: Perhaps I did not enunciate clearly the last time we spoke. I suggested that you stay put, shut down, and _wait for rescue._"

Anaya stood up straight, and said boldly, "You were perfectly clear. But I tend to disregard the words of assassin droids."

The droid chided, "Clarification: 'Assassin droid' is such and archaic term, Master, referring to crude durasteel drones with only basic kill-programs. What I do has been called…_wanton slaughter._ I prefer to view it as a way of facilitating communication...resulting in _terminating hostilities_."

Anaya said levelly, "You killed the miners in med bay."

"Answer: Of course, Master. They intended to cause you harm, which I could not allow, so I fulfilled my primary programming in terminating hostilities. After reprogramming the mining droids to 'mine' any organics they perceived, they did my work for me by eliminating the miners one by one. When a series of _flawlessly_ timed explosions forced the miners into their dormitories, I was able to gas them all at once, preventing the need to hunt them through the tunnels."

"So you ordered the droids to kill me?"

"Indignant Answer: No, Master! I could never allow such a thing! They were there to _guard_ you. I did not expect you to awake so soon from your drugged stupor, but you are particularly hardy. A ronto among humans, if you would indulge me the metaphor. But as you proved, the droids were no match for a Jedi, and were simply there to…_clean up_ the facility, so to speak."

"Why did you want to capture me?"

"Answer: It is outside the scope of my programming to probe the motivations of my clients, Master. Suffice to say I am being well-compensated. I am, however, free to say that my client is wealthy, and _very_ interested in possessing the last of the Jedi."

Anaya said accusingly, "You work for the Exchange."

"Chiding Answer: My programming renders me incapable of revealing my client, Master. But, let me be the first to inform you were _difficult_ to find. After all, you have been wandering since the Mandalorian Wars, leaving little record of your passage. It seemed you did not want to be found, by hunters such as myself, _or_ by the Jedi Order."

Anaya said dryly, "Considering you found me, I didn't cover my tracks well."

"Admission: It was a matter of chance, Master. I happened to be masquerading as a protocol droid onboard the _Harbinger_ when you booked passage, after which sabotaging the ship and calling for retrieval was a simple matter. Irritated Statement: However, when the Ebon Hawk appeared and salvaged us from the wreckage, I was forced to make a series of rapid recalculations, resulting in our current…_predicament_."

Anaya subtly made a gesture behind her back to myself and Atton…a gun pulling the trigger on a fist…a head. Then I realized that Anaya had been stalling the droid, taking him of his guard. She then said, "What now, you going to kill me?"

"Answer: No, Master, killing you would be counter-productive. However, if you resist my bringing you back to your kolto tank, I may be forced to inadvertently fracture your skeleton at several point to _incapacitate you_."

Atton and I took that as our cue. We opened fire…just as stealthed, floating mines appeared in from of the assassin droid. We detonated the front two, the concussive force from which staggered us and the assassin droid and detonated the other two, knocking me down. I quickly got up, just in time to have my left arm singed by a mining laser bolt from the assassin droid. He was surprisingly durable, but when Kreia, the brown-robed woman, Force-pushed it down, Atton and I rushed forward and shot it several time in the chassis and head, and Anaya finished it off with a vibroblades through the central control cluster. Anaya stepped forward, and pulled out the assassin droid's vocabulator and processor, and said, "I have a feeling we'll need these…" She put them in a satchel she brought from the mining tunnels, and we raced toward the _Harbinger_.

* * *

We got aboard the ship, when Kreia said randomly, "Something is wrong. I sense no one onboard."

Atton about had a conniption, " '_You sense no one onboard?_' Sense any, I don't know, _assassin droids_ sneaking up on us like last time?"

I said, "Sithspit, calm down, Atton!"

Anaya said, "Language, Girin!"

Kreia continued as if she heard nothing, "Everyone on aboard has been slain…yet there are few signs of battle, not carbon scoring ,blaster fire. This ship has been struck by assassins of a different sort."

Atton continued his rant, "Then what the Sith are we doing on this ship! We were better off in the facility! You two are Jedi? You're the _worst_ Jedi I've ever met!"

I wondered silently how many he'd met, but Anaya said irritably, "It's not too late to dump you back into your force cage, Atton."

Kreia cut off whatever Atton was about to say, "We cannot return to the facility. If the assassin machine is correct, the we cannot reach the hangar…" I opened my mouth, but Kreia cut me off, "…be silent, I need time to think."

She had no trouble with Anaya saying, again using the technical voice odd for someone who could barely access a medical terminal, "We could bypass the force field by getting to the engine room on the _Harbinger_, and get back into the facility through the fuel pipe."

Atton, always looking on the bright side, said, "Look, I don't mean to cast _another_ shadow on this, but it wouldn't matter even if we _could_ reach the ship. You'd need the asteroid drift charts to clear the asteroid field, unless you'd like to win the galactic record for shortest flight."

Anaya said, as if to a small child, "Then how did _this_ ship dock here?"

Atton said, "Well of course _they_ have the charts, they'd have to."

Anaya concluded, "Then we'll download the charts onto my navicomputer."

Atton seemed to search for something wrong with the plan, "Well, we'd have to get to the bridge, I mean…"

Anaya raised an eyebrow.

"…well, that's the biggest problem I can see," Atton concluded lamely.

"It is a sound plan, for the moment. Let us go." Anaya seemed to drift off, but Kreia snapped, "Our enemies gather while we delay."

Anaya shrugged that off, joking, "I was just contemplating whether or not to put Atton back in the force cage," she grinned at him.

Atton snorted, "Very funny. Can we just go?"

And with that, we set off into the warship.

* * *

We headed for the bridge. It was littered with the bodies of Republic soldiers, but we were able to get to the navicomputer with no large hassle. Anaya surprised us by rerouting the system, allowing me to download the drift charts. Then we checked the logs, which were disturbing, to put it mildly. It said a freighter with unknown ID signature sent out a broadcast saying it was under attack by Sith. When the _Harbinger_ went to intercept, there was no one onboard either ship, except a badly damaged T3 unit on the freighter. The captain said that the admiral wanted the freighter, so they tractor beamed it in. Another sweep saw several corpses on the freighter, but still no Sith…other than a badly damaged body, which was presumed alive. The last recording told an even worse story, that several systems including comm and weapons were failing, and worse: an otherworldly voice coming from medlab, claiming it had come for the Jedi. We left it alone.

Anaya insisted in searching the ship for useful equipment. We found a satchel for each of us to carry gear, and a blaster pistol and vibroblade for each of us. Anaya took a blaster rifle rather than a pistol. In the middle of our search, we were attacked by several assassins in black, carrying quarterstaffs. They immediately went for Anaya, but Atton tackled one, I shot another, and Anaya started dueling a third and fourth simultaneously. Kreia fell back, and suddenly I felt invigorated, and I knew Kreia was using the Force to strengthen us. I dropped my pistol and Stabbed another assassin in the back with my plasma torch. After a few moments, it was all over. "What in space was that?" Atton demanded.

Kreia said, "Those were the assassins that took over the ship. They are trained in the arts of the Sith, as well as those that conceal their presence. We must be cautious."

Anaya took control immediately, ordering, "Atton, take up the rear. I'll take point, Kreia hind me, Girin, you're behind Kreia."

We nodded, and continued exploring the ship. The briefing room held several interesting holovids, mostly orders from the famous Admiral Carth Onasi. All the escape pods were also jettisoned. We also found a few hundred credits. After thoroughly searching the command deck-and fighting off more assassins- we continued to the crew quarters.

We had only searched two rooms when Anaya stopped and walked slowly toward one in particular. Kreia asked in a voice which was, shockingly enough, lined with worry, "Are you alright?"

Anaya said dazedly, "These were my quarters."

Atton spoke up, "This was _your_ room? When?"

I said, "When she was on he _Harbinger_, genius."

Atton was about to make a retort, when Anaya interrupted, "Enough. I need to search this room."

Kreia said irritably, "We do not have time for this. Be swift."

Anaya nodded, and walked directly to a footlocker across from the door. She opened it and pulled out two finely made vibroblades, with custom edges, grips and power cells. She dropped her own blades and put these on her belt. She rifled through it some more, and pulled out a small Watchman blaster pistol, a data pad, and a red Republic armband. She put on the armband and pistol with its holster, put the datapad in her pack, and nodded toward the door.

* * *

We kept moving. After searching a few more rooms, fighting several more assassins, and looting more bodies, we found the medbay. "Wait," Anaya said. She checked her datapad, and sure enough, she continued, "This datapad shows that I was to report to medbay. Maybe we should check it out…"

Kreia said with her typical irritation, "We have no time, Ex-"

I interrupted, "Maybe she need some meds. Couldn't hurt to check." She sot me a thankful glance, and we walked into medbay. Anaya walked a few steps, and stopped in her tracks.

Atton asked, "What, why are we stopping?"

She gestured to a kolto tank in the center of the room, presumably an intensive care unit…only is had gals surrounding it, and none inside. It was almost as if something had broken out from _inside_. I said, "Look like someone didn't want to be healed…" Anaya nodded, and we kept walking.

We checked the logs, and found that ever since the warship had found the wreckage of the Sith warship, there had been disappearances. The medical officer reported that she felt that something was watching her, and the latest log said that soldiers suddenly dropped dead, and Sith came out of thin air. The lone Sith survivor, who had cracked skin and badly fractured bones, was a Sith Lord, and began attacking the ship from within. The cam log was even more disturbing, showing a corpselike being burst out of the central kolto tank and chase a Republic soldier. We assumed this was the Sith Lord, and the voice from the bridge logs. We left, and resolved to escape as quickly as possible.

We kept searching the ship, and went through several more rooms, including a droid maintenance closet. The utility droids were all deactivated, and the protocol droid was the victim of obvious sabotage. The datapad we found sitting on a storage cylinder said the a new droid, HK-50, had arrived on the ship a while ago, and annoyed the crew with sarcasm and veiled threats. It apparently had sabotaged the protocol droid and took its place. Also, it never stayed in one place, and appeared all over the ship. We continued on to the turbolift. After a twenty second ride to the engine level, we ran down the hallway, but Kreia stopped us, saying, "That presence…it has been some time."

We may have kept moving anyhow, except Anaya stopped also saying, "I sense it too…darkness and power."

I was mystified, but Atton said, "I have a _bad_ feeling about this…"

Annoyed by them all, and Atton being the easy target, I said, "Will you stop _saying that_?"

He responded defensively, "Can't help it…don't you feel it? Things are going to go to hell very soon."

Anaya replied before I could, "We'll have to be careful, then. But have _must_ keep moving."

Atton shook his head, and said resignedly, "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. Trust me…when it comes to survival, I'm almost never wrong."

It turns out he was right. Not two minutes of hurrying later, Anaya and Kreia stopped again. Kreia said softly, "He is here." We turned around, and there stood the Sith Lord from the holorecording, down the hall, in all his broken glory. Kreia flourished her vibroblade, and said, "This battle is mine alone. I am not defenseless. He cannot kill what he cannot see, and power blinded him long ago. Run, I shall not be long." She raced down the hall toward the shattered Sith, and the door slammed shut behind her.


End file.
